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AWS Egress Fees vs Barrack.ai: Why AI Developers Are Switching to Zero-Cost Data Transfer

· 6 min read
Dhaya
Dhaya
barrack.ai

Complete guide to AWS data transfer pricing, S3 egress fees, and how to eliminate them with zero-cost alternatives

What Are Egress Fees?​

Egress fees are charges cloud providers impose for downloading your own data. While AWS advertises S3 storage at $0.023/GB, they charge $0.09/GB just to download that same data - nearly 4x the storage cost.

For AI developers regularly downloading datasets, model checkpoints, and generated content, these aws data transfer charges can easily exceed compute costs.

Official AWS Data Transfer Pricing​

AWS Egress Fee Structure:​

  • First 100 GB/month: Free (shared across ALL AWS services)
  • First 10 TB/month: $0.09/GB ($90 per 100GB after free tier)
  • Next 40 TB/month: $0.085/GB
  • Next 100 TB/month: $0.07/GB
  • Greater than 150 TB/month: $0.05/GB

Key Detail Most Developers Miss:​

The 100GB free tier is shared across all AWS services - S3, CloudWatch, Lambda, etc. AI workloads hit the $0.09/GB rate much faster than expected.

S3 Egress Fees: The Real Cost of "Cheap" Storage​

True S3 Cost Breakdown:​

  • Advertised storage: $0.023/GB per month
  • Download cost: $0.09/GB per download
  • Total cost for one download: $0.113/GB (5x advertised price)

Common S3 Egress Fee Scenarios:​

  • Downloading training datasets from S3: $0.09/GB
  • Model checkpoint retrieval: $0.09/GB
  • Cross-region data transfers: Additional $0.02/GB
  • Team collaboration downloads: $0.09/GB per person

Why Amazon Egress Fees Crush AI Workloads​

AI development involves constant data movement that traditional web apps never encounter:

Typical AI Data Transfer Patterns:​

  • Dataset downloads: 50-500GB per experiment
  • Model checkpoints: 10-50GB each save/load cycle
  • Generated outputs: Images, videos, processed data
  • Team sharing: Multiple downloads of same files
  • Production deployment: Moving trained models to inference

Real AWS Data Transfer Costs for AI Projects:​

Typical AI Development Project:​

Monthly Data Transfer Breakdown:

  • Training datasets: 100GB × 5 experiments/month = 500GB
  • Model checkpoints: 25GB × 15 saves/month = 375GB
  • Model deployments: 25GB × 8 deployments/month = 200GB
  • Total monthly transfer: 1,075GB
  • AWS egress cost: (1,075GB - 100GB free) × $0.09 = $87.75/month

This covers the most common AI workflows: experimenting with datasets, saving training progress, and deploying models for testing.

Cloud Provider Egress Fee Comparison​

Data transfer costs per 100GB:

  • AWS: $90.00 (after 100GB free tier)
  • Azure: $87.00
  • Google Cloud: $120.00
  • Barrack.ai: $0.00 (unlimited)

How to Calculate Your AWS Data Transfer Charges​

Simple AWS Egress Cost Formula:​

  1. Add up monthly data downloads (datasets, models, outputs)
  2. Subtract 100GB (shared free tier across all AWS services)
  3. Multiply remaining GB by $0.09
  4. Add regional transfer costs if applicable

Example Calculation:​

  • Monthly downloads: 1,200GB
  • Minus free tier: 1,200GB - 100GB = 1,100GB billable
  • Egress cost: 1,100GB × $0.09 = $99/month

Remember: The 100GB free tier covers S3, CloudWatch logs, Lambda responses, and all other AWS data transfers combined.

The Hidden Business Impact of Egress Fees​

Annual Cost Examples:​

  • Small AI team (500GB/month): $432/year in egress fees
  • Growing startup (2TB/month): $2,052/year in egress fees
  • Established company (5TB/month): $5,292/year in egress fees

Why This Hurts AI Innovation:​

  • Reduced experimentation: Teams avoid downloading datasets
  • Slower iteration: Developers optimize for fewer model saves
  • Collaboration barriers: Team members hesitate to share large files
  • Budget surprises: Egress costs often exceed compute budgets

Traditional "Solutions" That Don't Work​

Keep Everything in AWS:​

  • Still pay egress fees for local development
  • Jupyter notebooks require data downloads
  • Team collaboration needs file sharing

Use Smaller Datasets:​

  • Reduces model quality and accuracy
  • Limits competitive advantage
  • Defeats the purpose of big data AI

Stream Data Instead:​

  • Adds significant complexity
  • Doesn't work for all AI workflows
  • Still incurs transfer costs for many operations

Barrack.ai: Zero Egress Fee Alternative​

Our GPU Pricing with Unlimited Data Transfer:​

High-Performance Options:

  • H100-SXM5-80GB: $2.69/hour + unlimited data transfer
  • H100-PCIe-NVLink-80GB: $2.29/hour + unlimited data transfer
  • H100-PCIe-80GB: $2.09/hour + unlimited data transfer

Popular Training GPUs:

  • A100-SXM4-80GB-NVLink: $1.59/hour + unlimited data transfer
  • A100-PCIe-80GB: $1.55/hour + unlimited data transfer
  • L40: $1.19/hour + unlimited data transfer

Development & Testing:

  • RTX-A6000: $0.69/hour + unlimited data transfer
  • A40: $0.69/hour + unlimited data transfer

Simple Pay-As-You-Go Model:​

  • No contracts or commitments
  • Pay only for GPU hours used
  • Unlimited data transfer included
  • No surprise egress bills

Real Cost Comparison: AWS vs Barrack.ai​

Monthly H100 Workload Example (200 hours):​

AWS Total Cost:

  • H100 GPU compute: 200 hours × $4.92/hr = $984
  • Egress fees (1TB transfer): $81
  • Total: $1,065

Barrack.ai Total Cost:

  • H100 GPU compute: 200 hours × $2.09/hr = $418
  • Egress fees: $0
  • Total: $418

Monthly savings: $647 (61% reduction) Annual savings: $7,764

Why We Can Offer Zero Egress Fees​

Our Business Philosophy:​

We believe charging premium rates for data movement is an innovation tax. We make our profit on compute resources, not on punitive download fees.

Technical Approach:​

  • High-speed network infrastructure designed for AI workloads
  • Regional data centers minimize actual transfer costs
  • Smart caching reduces unnecessary data movement
  • Sustainable pricing model aligned with customer success

Frequently Asked Questions About Egress Fees​

Q: Do egress fees apply to all cloud downloads?​

A: Yes, downloading data from AWS to anywhere outside their network incurs egress charges at $0.09/GB (after 100GB free tier shared across all services).

Q: Can I avoid AWS data transfer charges?​

A: Within AWS regions, some transfers are free. But any download to local machines, other clouds, or team members triggers egress fees.

Q: Are S3 egress fees the same as EC2 egress fees?​

A: Yes, AWS uses the same pricing structure for data transfer out across services, including S3, EC2, and others.

Q: What's the cheapest way to handle large AI datasets?​

A: Use a provider with zero egress fees like Barrack.ai, or accept significantly higher total costs with traditional cloud providers.

Take Action: Calculate Your Egress Fee Savings​

Step 1: Audit Your Current Costs​

  • Check your AWS bill for "Data Transfer OUT" charges
  • Add up monthly dataset and model downloads
  • Include team collaboration file transfers

Step 2: Calculate Potential Savings​

Add up your monthly data downloads and multiply by $0.09 (minus the 100GB free tier) to see your current egress costs.

Step 3: Start Saving Today​

Sign up for Barrack.ai and deploy GPU instances with unlimited data transfer included.

The Bottom Line on Cloud Egress Costs​

AWS data transfer pricing can easily double your cloud costs for AI workloads. S3 egress fees turn "cheap" storage into expensive data traps. Amazon egress fees are pure profit centers that tax innovation.

The actual cost of moving data between modern data centers is less than $0.01/GB. The remaining $0.08/GB is markup - an 800% profit margin on your data movement.

Stop paying the innovation tax.

Ready to eliminate egress fees forever?

Calculate GPU costs - Compare H100 and A100 pricing with zero egress fees

Start with zero egress - Deploy GPU instances with unlimited data transfer included

Questions about egress fees or want to discuss your specific AI workload costs? Contact our team - we're always happy to help fellow AI developers optimize their infrastructure spending.